DOCTOR WHO Begins With 'An Unearthly Child' In This Week's Friday Docback!! + A Super-Cool Book Signing For U.K Readers!!

As I've mentioned previously, my exposure to pre-2005 DOCTOR WHO has been scattershot and selective at best. With "An Unearthly Child," I've backtracked all the way to the beginning of the show and am now working my way forward and in sequence. On a weekly basis, every Friday Docback will have at least a passing reference to whatever "older" episodes I've watched since the previous Friday - this will include audio adventures of the "lost" episodes, and whatnot - although other subjects will, of course, be presented along the way as well.

"AN UNEARTHLY CHILD"

A small part of me…a tiny part of me, really…wishes I hadn't seen any DOCTOR WHO before "An Unearthly Child," as it's hard not to weigh this episode against elements I already know will come later. On the other hand, watching AUC unfold was quite fascinating, and I was quickly impressed by exactly how many DW "conceits" were put into place so early in the life of the show (the use of what we'd come to know as "The Vortex" in the opening title sequence as well as in the story's time/space transition, for example, one character's assertion that The Doctor's Police Box is "alive," and the introduction of requisite "Doctor Who?" jokes).

This story starred William Hartnell as The Doctor - bringing us the first and possibly most abrasive of the eleven interpretations of the role thus far. Hartnell's Doctor is impatient, irascible, condescending, and is both showing and feeling his age. He's angrier than many of his later incarnations - less taken by the wonder of the universe and the exhilarating potential of the worlds and people within it. He seems tired and somewhat beaten down here - a fascinatingly weary interpretation of a role that, in later iterations, is very much larger-than-life.

AUC finds The Doctor and his granddaughter Susan (Carole Ann Ford - this character says she invented the "TARDIS" anagram) inadvertently traveling back to pre-historic times with teachers Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill). In the past, these unwitting explorers encounter prehistoric mankind, which is embroiled in dense tribal politics surrounding fire, or rather lack thereof. Seems that whoever possesses the ability to "make fire" is essentially the default head of the tribe. Poor Za, who is angling to become leader, is unable to make fire by pumping his fire bone between his hands - an unfortunate sexual innuendo borne out by the sequence's actual execution (check out 2:28)

The Doctor is bagged by Kal, a caveman with an uncanny resemblance to Ringo Starr in a movie called CAVEMAN…

…who sees The Doctor lighting his pipe (no wonder he's not feeling well), and drags our hero back to the caves assuming that his control of someone who can make fire (The Doctor) will default him into tribal leadership ahead of Za. Of course, it's not that easy…

Paradoxically, one element I truly appreciate about "An Unearthly Child" is also a criticism I'd level towards the show. I love the notion that DOCTOR WHO is often about how The Doctor and his shenanigans affect the people around him (this quality got me hooked on "Blink" - the first episode of the post-2005 era I watched), and here it takes quite a while before we actually encounter The Doctor. This is an effective and atypical storytelling device which serves the show very well on the whole and lends it more credibility than it otherwise might have. I.e. it makes complete sense that a character as grand as The Doctor would have significant impact on those he encounters, or those waiting to encounter him, and DW as a whole is to be commended for embracing and visualizing this conceit.

On the other hand, "An Unearthly Child" is very much establishes our hero characters (The Doctor and his companions) as windows into the events around them - they're more like observers than proactive participants here. A little of which can work nicely - but it's never fully counterbalanced. By the story's end, we feel that our heroes were more or less swept up by what was happening to them instead of asserting control over what was happening to them - a malaise which can't remain interesting for long. The original STAR TREK would approach many stories similarly - with Kirk & Co. being swept up in someone else's events - but in that show, our characters invariably did something…for better or worse…to push along what was happening, and advance the story a bit. In AUC, The Doctor and his cohorts are very much watchers and their generally ineffectual approach made it difficult for me to remain consistently engaged with the story.

While "An Unearthly Child" is filled with an ambitious style that was sometimes not as smoothly executed as its makers had clearly intended (camerawork in particular), this story serves as a tantalizing portent of DOCTOR WHO's overall potential and emerges as one of the most earnest, atmospheric pilots launch episodes I can recall seeing. For all the little details that didn't work as well as they should have, you can feel the effort behind the scenes, and sense the complete investment of the actors in this tale. These people clearly believe in what the show they were putting on screen, which is an essential component to our embracing it as well - and a component that is often missing from a number of television and film productions. It's esoteric I admit, and possibly even subliminal. But I strongly contend that audiences can tell when talent is invested - as opposed to when they're simply going through the motions. Here...they're clearly and admirably invested.

As a case in point: there's a moment in the story in which Kal begs The Doctor to make fire - The Doctor refuses. The oddly Shakespearean performances of the prehistoric humans in this tale, compounded with a decision for some actors to subtlety "break the fourth wall" during these episodes (there are points when characters seem to be addressing the camera/the audience rather than each other), would've made the potential for comedic disaster here extremely high. But this moment doesn't play shamefully, and the desperation mentioned above emerges as utterly sincere and even slightly affecting. No small accomplishment in Science Fiction such as this, especially given the budgetary restraints and challenging circumstance the people making this show were regularly facing.

Fire equals power and leadership. If only life was that simple now. Or maybe it is…

UPCOMING DOCTOR WHO BOOK SIGNING IN LONDON

I received a press release about a cool-sounding DOCTOR WHO book signing at Forbidden Planet in London. A few months ago a friend sent me a link to Forbidden Planet's site, and I'd be in big, big trouble if they shipped to The States (which I don't believe they do).

I know a number of Docbackers enjoy the DOCTOR WHO books, so I thought I'd pass this information along.

Per the press release...

NAOMI ALDERMAN, GEORGE MANN, JONATHAN MORRIS

Bringing down the barriers of Space Time - FORBIDDEN PLANET are delighted to be hosting a triple DOCTOR WHO signing with Naomi Alderman, George Mann and Jonathan Morris on Saturday 25th June 1-2pm at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H

8JR.

In Alderman’s Borrowed Time, Time is the business of Mr Symington and Mr Blenkinsop. In Mann’s Paradox Lost, it’s London 2789 – and the remains of an ancient android are dredged from the Thames. In Morris’ Touched by an Angel, Rebecca Whitaker has died in a road accident – and her husband is given the chance to go back and save her.

CHRIS ACHILLEOS, TERRANCE DICKS, CAROL ANN FORD, FRAZER HINES

To celebrate the release of BBC Books’ six classic Doctor Who titles, each featuring Chris Achilleos’ stunning cover art and based on some cult classic early stories. Forbidden Planet are delighted to be hosting a signing with Chris Achilleos, Terrance Dicks, Carol Ann

This series of books feature the very best in classic Doctor Who tales, and, as well as fantastic new a series of new introductions by Neil Gaiman, Charlie Higson, Gareth Roberts, Stephen Baxter, Russell T Davies and Terrance Dicks.

I have NEVER been first on any of these Docbacks and, when I saw this suddenly pop up between me drifting around the site, I thought "FUCKING FINALLY!!!"
But no. You had to jump in there and get stuck in, oh yes. Because that's who you are, Red43jes. You were always this. Waiting for me... all this time.

I always deduced that he was grumpy and weary simply because he had been living for so long in his first incarnation, plus being on the run with a stolen TARDIS must have been stressful. He finally finds a backward planet to hide on and to bring up Susan on, and two Teachers suddenly start poking their noses in to his business.
It would be great if we could see a younger version of The Doctor than this, but I feel he didn't really didnt mix with humans up until this point.

I think the show as a whole frequently relies on this conceit (from what I've seen so far), but I was citing "Unearthly Child" as being a more flagrant example than most.
To some extent, this is an interesting and *good* approach to storytelling as it gives the on-screen happenings more context and breadth and gravity - I just felt the gag was utilized a bit too strongly in "Unearthly," and that our characters were a bit too neutered.
Keep in mind, I may be entirely wrong in my assessment as I haven't seen enough early episodes to speak authoritatively. But I have noted that the device is frequently used...in one way or another...in the "older" episodes I have seen.

By Article 15 of the Shadow Proclamation. I command you to let me have the next First with all the authority of the Slitheen Parliament of Raxacoricofallapatorious and the Gelth Confederacy, as sanctioned by the Mighty Jagrafess, and the Daleks.

I both agree and disagree with you. Certainly in the classic episodes, The Doctor and companion(s) would find themselves somewhere new and, whilst The Doctor might poke around here and there, they probably wouldn't interfere too much until the danger was apparent. I think that the revived show, due to the shortened length of the stories, has probably removed that element. The Doctor tends to jump in straight away nowadays (mainly because the antagonist or problem usually presents itself much quicker.)
It's an interesting opinion though. I'm sure others will step forward to support or oppose it, as the material is probably there to do so.

...at Den Of Geek: http://www.denofgeek.com/television/947521/torchwood_miracle_day_episode_1_spoilerfree_review_the_new_world.html
And the reviewer seemed to like it, which is good!
I hope Merrick gets to review it for AICN rather than Herc. I haven't got anything against Herc (apart from his bias against Supernatural) but I'd much rather read Merrick's opinion, seeing as he's the resident DW fan here.

I think that in the beginning, the producers weren't sure yet where they wanted to go with interfering with history versus observing it.
The Doctor's a total pimp in this one with that pipe (which drives the story pretty much) and that sweet hat.
My sister and I for years would end an argument with "Kal make fire!" "No, Za make fire!" when neither of us could agree on something. What I like is that we don't feel any kind of real identification with the cavemen, I think that the story really makes them unlikeable and the Doctor even tries to kill one of them with a rock. The Doctor is a great mystery here and he's not the action hero that Ian is.
You're not sure his intentions are pure, but it seems like he should be a good guy because the show is named after him.
I like that they're bringing that aspect back a little in the new series, though.

The "not get involved" aspect was seen mostly with the first Doctor, and mostly with the historical adventures. The Aztecs had the bit "you can't change history, not one line" and showed that Barbara couldn't really change history. Of course, at that time the series totally ignored the fact that "modern day" or "future" stories would be history for SOMEONE, it was definitely written from a mid-latter 20th century Earth viewpoint. So, you can't go screwing up the French Revolution, but it's perfectly okay to destroy alien baddies on Skaro or muck about with Sensorites and humans in the future because it isn't "history". The new series picked up on this and came up with the explanation of fixed points in time so that the Doctor could still interact in the historicals and change some things.
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The "not get involved" faded out for the most part with the historicals but had a few nods later in the series (in Frontios, the Doctor telling people that they're not to tell anyone he was there and made a material difference, a few Colin Baker stories where the Doctor turned out to be superfluous to the plot as things would have turned out the same anyway).
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In An Unearthly Child you can also see that the actual "heroes" were Ian and Barbara, while the Doctor was this very shifty mystery figure. During the story he was willing to bash a caveman's brains in just for expediency, and Ian had to stop him. He puts everyone in danger in The Daleks just because he's curious. You can see over time, starting with the end of the third story Ian's and Barbara's humanizing effect on the Doctor. It lends support to RTD's theory that the Doctor needs a human companion around in order to keep his "humanity" and not turn into just another pompous all-powerful Time Lord. (Of course, this doesn't explain the period where he's running around with just Romana and K-9, neither one human, but we don't want to let some facts ruin a perfectly good theory ;) )

There's a spoiler free review of the first 3 episodes on io9 they have a similar verdict to Den of Geek.
http://io9.com/5814114/why-torchwood-still-rules-television
The BBC's only word so far on when they are going to show it is "later in the summer"
The world's response to this is "TORRENT"
I've been watching Children of Earth again.. It really is a great piece of sci fi..

... Is that many of the actors stutter and trip over their lines... Especially hartnell.
Currently on the pertwee era, think the last i saw was sea devils... Gonna get back into it now that we have another hiatus ... If series 7 of who is delayed til 2013, i will be beside myself....

Back for the first couple of Doctors, the sheer effort involved with getting all the episodes out in time meant that they couldn't go back for a retake unless it was something catastrophic, which is why you see actors stumbling over their lines and going on. They showed new episodes almost every week. Stories were shot in scene sequence at the time. They didn't have the luxury we have now for shooting entire stories out of order, based on the sets. That didn't start until the Pertwee era, when the series cut back to only 25-26 new episodes a year.

I love the first episode, but I have to admit the quest for fire episodes after have never gotten to me. The first episode is, hands down, one of the best pilots I've seen (there are a few other pilots I think just as good-- the Prisoner, Blake's 7, etc).
The First Doctor is a very interesting character. He changes because of his contact with Ian and Barbara, and in many ways, without them he would never have become the hero he is. They are the ones who push him outside of his Gallifreyan mindset and into action -- though it takes time. I love watching his relationship with them progress, so that, in the end, when they want to go home -- he is upset and sad, and you can see it all in him and his eyes (William Hartnell was also upset at the change, and so a part of it is that he really felt what he said, not just as a character, but as an actor).

Hartnell's Doctor is exactly what it needed to be at the time. Grumpy yes, but tender moments peppered. Perfect in every way. Love his launch of the Doctor. Love Barb, Susan and Ian. Great first Tardis crew. Endearing and an absolute classic!

Merrick, another great article from yourself, and may I add with tongue definately planted firmly in cheek, not as amusing as your Ian McShane article of a few days back, which as I type here is STILL making me grin like a cheshire cat!!!
We all have our bad days my friend, and you must have been bloody exhausted combined with your computer issues!!!
But once again thank you for providing a home for the Who Fans!!
To address a couple of issues; DoctorTom thank you for your kind words in the last thread, they meant a great deal.
Horn, likewise my friend and I hope that Fathers Day spent with your mother was successful in celebrating memories. After all, it's not just about honouring the living.
As for this episode of Who- I've not seen it in quite some time! My memories of Hartnell (bearing in mind I was introduced to him after Tom Baker and Peter Davis(d)son (that one was just for you, Horn!!!) was of a grumpy iritable old git who seemed to have little time for those around him, even though time was for want of a better phrase "at his mercy."
I can also remember asking questions around how long he had been in that form, and took for granted that this was how he had looked before what we class as his first regeneration into Mr Trougton. Now I am not so sure. I would like toi think that there were others before him, but Rassilons decree of a limited number of regenerations kind of put a stop to that theory....for a while. In the ever changing WHO universe, as we now know, anything is possible and time can be rewritten!!!!!!
I also recall that he kidnapped Ian and Babs to keep their mouths shut about the TARDIS!!! Oh how our fave timelord has changed!!! Or has he? Yes, this was forceable kidnap of a kind (as I recall) but now our Doc is much more sleek in his attempts to kidnap his companions; dangling adventure and excitement infront of them, kidnapping their minds and their emotions before the inevitable release back into a grounded reality. And one that changes the mentality of the companion forever, all to appease his lonleyness.
Yes, Hartnell got me thinking about the Doctor in a whole new light. Do I love him less? For goodness sakes, no!!! And would I allow him to kidnap my mind???
"Where's my thief??????!!!!"
Good to be home fellow DocBackers!!!

Another nice article there, Merrick.
The First Doctor is very much of the "I don't want to get involved kind", more dragged into having to aake action when there's no other choice than any other Doctor as I recall.
You mentioned the somewhat dodgy camerawork - well that's forgivable as pretty much all of the episodes of Doctor Who, at least up to Tom Baker, were shot in one evening, sometimes several scene transitions in one go. According to the production notes subtitles.
With that in mind, some of they stuff they pulled off is actually much more impressive than you'd have first thought.

Hope things are well with the family.
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I used to think of An Unearthly Child as the one part setup for a cool show with 3 episodes of an attached boring caveman story marking time until we get to the Daleks, but going back to watch it in terms of the characterization has changed my mind on it. "Where's my thief?!?" indeed. I'm tempted to go back and watch it again in light of The Doctor's Wife, but I suspect I'll go back to reread The Masters of Luxor first, though. (I don't know why that story didn't get included in the first batch of First Doctor Lost Stories audios, but I think I heard it's going to be included in the next set.)

...family is well thank you. Kids are over their nasty bout of flu, and my mothers shoulder surgery went fine, all things considering. (weak heart, overweight...)
I have not read the scripts for "Luxor" but am interested in getting hold of "Farewell Great Macedon" courtesy of Big Finish. I like the pitch of the Alexander the Great story and having to prove themselves innocent to Ptolemy by undergoing a series of trials!!

I do remember when it was offered for a limited time as a scriptbook. It would have been a fun story.
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I would be amused if Big Finish picked up Jim Moritmore's novel Campaign to do as a Lost Story or at least as a Companion Chronicle. Considering it was originally going to be a BBC book and ended up published (for a limited time) elsewhere, maybe that would qualify it as an honorary "lost story". It actually did reference The Masters of Luxor, as well as the Doctor Who 1st Doctor comic with the little kids.

it was the first story of the parallel worlds arc, and dealt with a world where the Silurians killed off the 3rd Doctor. The 7th Doctor has to make an emergency landing and ends up in this world (thinking at first he's in prehistoric times). It was a fun book.
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Eternity Weeps was an interesting book, near the end of the 7th Doctor New Adventures, and was the first without the Doctor Who logo - this was more of a test balloon for the cover format getting ready for the Bernice Summerfield series after they wouldn't be allowed to publish Doctor Who any more. Mortimore also did a very good Bernice Summerfield book after that.

I also liked the first episode of An Unearthly Child, though the remaining parts of it didn't do anything for me. I saw Hartnell's Doctor quite a long time after I first got into the show (with Pertwee and Baker), so it was a bit odd seeing him with a granddaughter and (initially) being portrayed as a rather sinister character and not even being the "hero" that everyone has to defer to.
I did start to notice him being pushed to the forefront when Barbara and Ian left, especially noticing it in THE WAR MACHINES - I love the part when everyone around him is running for cover and he just stands there as the robot closes in on him. I recall liking the character more when he started being more of the heroic character we now know; first got a hint of it in THE RESCUE when he reveals that he knows the identity of the villain and confronts him.

Back in the day, that was how we had to "see" older episodes, at least here in the States. PBS stations would run Tom Baker episodes, occasionally Jon Pertwee episodes, and Peter Davison episodes when they became available. We got to see a few of the Colin Baker, too, when they became available (usually a couple of years after they showed across the pond).
For the first two Doctors, or most of the Third Doctor, the only way to get these episodes were to pick up the Target novelizations. They were usually quite well-written, too. This was also the way we'd re-experience the newer episodes we just watched -- there was very little available on VHS back then, and DVD wasn't even in anyone's imagination!
My kids are reading my old Target books now. Glad to see they'll be enjoyed by future generations, as they should be.

I have to admit that although I loved AUC as piece of history, many of the later first Doctor stories really didn't feel like they stood the test of time. Many of the early episodes feel like they are walking in circles, passing time until they'd filled their quota of air time. My memory of watching a string of them was there seemed to be far, far less engery than the bablecolour tribute would suggest. Yet because they were so well received in their time, they also presented a fascinating reflection of the culture of the audience who first consumed them.

That was actually deliberate early on. The idea began as a show for kids with a bit of an educational aspect where The Doctor and co. would travel to points in history and via a sci fi story, impart a bit of an exciting history lesson. As such, The Doctor wouldn't be a proactive influence on historical events.

What we can't forget is that this stuff was compelling TV back in the day!!
We have become so desensitised to many things because of the state of world affairs, the new glut of horror and torture porn assailing us every 5 seconds that it is truly hard to imagine this terrifying anyone.... but it did and then some!!!

..the time meddler- Peter Butterworth as the Meddling Monk!!! And Peter Purves...can't recall his actual name in the episodes, although I'm sure it's something like Steve.
The Celestial Toymaker- the late, great Michael Gough!!! Choice!!!!

When I did my blog on Doctor Who, I pretty much said that Hartnell's Doctor was like a stern grandfather. He could be grumpy at times, but every now and then he would let his true feeling sneak through. How he reacts to the death of a companion many many episodes into the series was handled so well, unlike when Adric died during Davison's era, where the ep ended in silence, then the next ep, hardly a mention of Adric's brave sacrifice to save everyone else and defeat the Cybermen...odd that was...

First is the, for lack of a better word, complexity of the caveman characters. Instead of just being a straightforward black and white story, each of the major clan members has their own agenda, which helps to make Za (and even the old woman,) sympathetic even when they're antagonistic.
Second is the bit with the knife. It's really the most "Doctor-like" moment for William Hartnell in this story, showing just how clever The Doctor is at heart, turning a situation to his advantage simply by being the smartest man in the room.

Seem a a bit padded to our standards, but we must also remember they were not meant to be watched back to back as we do now. Nonetheless, the best of any era is good, real good, and even the failures are interesting, intelligent attempts (Web Planet to me is one of the most interesting Doctor Who attempts; even though it fails, it tried something rarely seen in televised sci-fi).

but extremely overpriced in DVD. I won't buy those unless they reach the $20 mark, which is where they really belong. I hate it when shows thing they're so fucking special that we should pay extra for them. Maybe if the seasons were 22 episodes long I'd think about paying their exorbitant prices.
So fuck you, Doctor Who DVD makers! I fuck you up the butts with my white-hot hatred! I shred you with my angry, spiny dick! I will not pay your bloated prices!

Sorry Merrick for not being around for a while, been ery busy and it has been difficult to jump in the last couple of docbacks even though i have managed to catch up :)
Lovin your reviews, beautifully written and totally show your love for Who shining like a beacon :)
Hey guys, Seph, SJW, Horno (sad for your loss)
and all
Yay Long may the docback reign :)
Be well all
Back later!

Forbidden Planet may not post to the USA but I post all over the world. I've also got a far greater selection on offer than they have. Google Comic Guru and you'll find me straight away.
As for Unearthly Child. You should really think of episode one as a separate entity. It was remounted twice due to story and character changes and is considered truly separate from the cavemen storyline. Its a work of Television genius that first episode. The rest is very ho hum. Although the old womans speech should become an internet meme. LOL. Ka make Fire! Za kill Ka.... etc

..the premise for that time was very bold indeed, with the story spanning multiple places and times.
And it also said goodbye to Ian and Babs as companions, which seemed funny as there was only the time meddler left before series 2 came to a close. Introducing Peter Purves with just one set of episodes to go would have been daft if there hadn't only been a couple of months between 2 ending and 3 beginning.
If only we had that luxury nowerdays instead of having to wait a thousand fucking years!!!

I haven't seen a lot of his stuff, but I do enjoy the Unearthly Child / quest for fire storyline.
I really love the second story that introduced the Daleks. I feel that holds up really well
Dalek invasion of earth I found to be a snoozefest though.
Hartnell's doctor is very unique, and what's even weird is that Ian and Barbara really feel more like the stars of the show then the title character.
I would really like them to somehow show what the first doctor was like when he was younger at some point.
I did like the Tennant/Moffat explanation in 'Time Crash' that the earlier doctors were more serious and curmudgeony because when he was "young" he was always trying to act serious the way young people do, but as he's gotten older he's learned to lighten up.
And I agree with all that has been said above by Merrick that it is really impressive how much of the core ideas of the show were at work in the first episode.

...I have managed to pick up some classic WHO DVDs for a song on there, and fantastic quality. All original to boot.
Just purchased Logopolis for £6 ($8), and have bought Troughton era, Davis(d)son (HAHAHAHAHA!!! Sorry, joke between myself and HornOrSilk) era, as well as other Baker era stuff for around the same price.
Best bargain? The Five Doctors, original, new for only £4 ($6)!!!!
In the shops classic Who ranges from £10.99 to £16.97.
Happy bargain hunting!!!

I've never watched any Hartnell - as a child I had just a few glimpses of Troughton & Pertwee from behind the couch before falling forever for Tom Baker. I had always assumed Hartnell was shite for the kiddies. But that AUC is bloody good.
Only ever saw Susan in The Five Doctors so never realised what an astonishing hottie she was. A bit too quick with the screaming but really ... I would hit that.

It has been a while since I saw THE DALEKS, but The Doctor was not THE hero of the story. Ian and Barbara were more the heroes doing most the heavy lifting during their time, and the Doctor was more of a grandfather character to happened to be more knowledgeable. He's not the guy who senses trouble, then rushes in to fix things.

Peri is zaftig, I'll give you that, and I'm not putting Susan at the top of my list - sweaty Nyssa crawling through ventilation shafts minus underwear is burned on my psyche. Plus I'm looking forward to the CGI "The Two Sara Janes" in which the older SJ and the younger SJ team up to ... um ... well I'm sure Moffat can think of a premise.
But that little dance number Susan does with the transistor radio, that's worthwhile, and the girl looked lovely from behind.

I meant "heavy lifting" figuratively. He isn't the focus of the show like he is nowadays. The characters aren't always running to him to save the day. He doesn't convince the Thaals to fight against the Daleks, Ian does, for example. The TARDIS crew puts forth more of a team effort at this point.

the inclusion of Ace on the Die a Painful Death list would also be controversial. I'd put her in my top 10. (I also wouldn't put Donna Noble in the Die a Painful Death category, but there I realize that people had a love her or hate her relationship with the character).
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Okay, a list of the 10 hottest
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1) Leela
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2) Nyssa
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3) Benny Summerfield (she was in the novels and is voiced in the audios by Lisa Bowerman, so as far as I'm concerned she counts. And anybody who claims Lisa Bowerman isn't hot is blind or mentally enfeebled.)
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3) Romana 1
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4) River Song<br>
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5) Sarah Jane <br>
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6)Romana II
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7) Amy Pond
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8) Sexy (in a mad goth kind of way)
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9)Grace (no I'm not going to ignore the TV movie)
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10) Rose (the smile she gave at the end of The End of Time bumped her up to the list)
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And an honorable mention for an almost companion,
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11)Madame du Pompadour (she got into the TARDIS briefly, so she counts)
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And another honorable mention mainly because she wasn't a companion, but was a Doctor for part of one story:
12) Joanna Lumley's Doctor in The Curse of Fatal Death
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I'll grant you, the last half of the list could probably shift around some depending on my mood.
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Sorry, but Zoe struck me too much as jailbait to ever try to put her in a "hot" list.
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COMPANION THAT I WANT TO SEE DIE A PAINFUL DEATH
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Mel, Mel, Adric, Adric, Adric, Mel, Kamelion if he ever made himself look like Mel or Adric, any Rutan or Zygon that tried to look like Mel or Adric, Kylie Minogue's character (not Kylie, just the character), Flesh Avatars of Mel or Adric, The Rani disguised as Mel, Block Transfer Computation projections of Adric, life sized standees of Mel, anyone vaguely resembling Mel visually, through personality or vocally. Oh, and add Mel to the list. And Adric. Because they can't be added too many times to a list of companions that should die a painful death. And yes, I know, Adric probably burned up in reentry, but he should be brought back to life so that he could suffer a painful death again. (Actually I didn't mind him at the start, but after he got out of E Space it went downhill very fast and quickly reached intolerable.)

I meant to say the 51st century spaceship and almost got to the TARDIS. But, you're right on that point.
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I'd even disagree with Turlough. He had good moments and moments he was wasted, but I wouldn't put him on the Painful Death list. He's nowhere near Mel's level. Or even Adric-with-the-5th-Doctor's level. I'd rather have the Dream Lord as a companion than Mel. I'd rather have the Wicked Witch of the West with her cackling than Mel. The Doctor should have taken Sabalom Glitz in as a companion on the TARDIS at the end of Trial of a Time Lord instead of Mel. Or the Doctor lets her run off with Glitz before he leaves the Time Lord station, so that Glitz could sell her on the open market somewhere, if only as Soylent Green. In an ideal world, Mel gets run over by one of those "cute" robots that showed up in Waters of Mars. And the robot backs up over her again. Repeatedly.

does Sally Sparrow count? I mean, yes she did spend time in the TARDIS (a few seconds) BUT the doctor wasn't present, so who was she the companion to? That's a tough one that needs a geek-discussion. Also... The Doc's Daughter? Another one I'm not sure would count....

Some ladies I'd like to materialize in:
1. Peri
2. Romana II
3. Susan
4. Astrid
5. Sexy
6. River Song
7. Donna Noble
8. Gwen Cooper
9. Toshiko Sato
10. Lady Christina de Souza
Yeah, some of these girls never set foot in the TARDIS, and a couple of them are from Torchwood. Fine, sue me.

"The Time Meddler", "The Space Museum"/"The Chase", "Doctor Who and the Silurians", "The Claws of Axos", "The Sea Devils", "The Three Doctors", "The Time Warrior", "Horror of Fang Rock", "City of Death", The E-Space Trilogy, "Warriors of the Deep"--I might wait on watching "Warriors" since I'm just three DVDs away from owning Davison's entire run. I'll just do a Davison marathon when I have a complete set.

don't, for Gods sake, let a certain Docbacker hear you speculate on the return of the 8th Doctor, or the Rani, or the fact that Amy's house is a TARDIS... You'll start him off, and we'll have to go through all that again. WE all know that Doc8 will be back, but we pretend for this Docbackers sake, that we think otherwise...

"Of all the positive lessons the show tries to impart to kids, why do the adults have to remain so oblivious?" What, you mean like trying to appear superior to everyone else? COME ON you can't tell me that you actually enjoyed any second of Mel?!?!?!?!??!!? REALLY?

I've watched all the Tom Baker episodes and most of the Ninth and Tenth Doctors, and a few Pertwees with Sarah Jane, but I have a whole lot of companions and Doctors I haven't really experienced yet. Watched some Peri clips on youtube because you guys kept drooling over her.

3 way tie for first place for me with:
Martha Jones, Romana I & Amy Pond
The other 7 are (in no particular order):
Sally Sparrow
Peri
Leela
That burglar girl from (planet of the dead)
TOS Sarah Jane
Nyssa
Romana II

That's a good one, one of the very first classics I ever saw.
It has the all time funniest resolution of an end of the episode cliffhanger
with one part ending with the doctor finding the professor dead and silurian coming out of the room and the doctor realling in terror
the next episode begins by recapping that, then the doctor just casually puts out his hand and says "hello. are you a silurian?" and shakes hands with him
Absolutely priceless classic Pertwee moment.
Also a weird serial because the title actually includes the name 'doctor who' which implies that his name is infact "doctor who" and not just 'the doctor'

Through his travels and the friendships he makes the Doctor fundamentally changes his heart(s) at the ironic cost of losing his actual Grand Daughter. It's a great character arc. But to me Unearthly Child is classic scary Doctor Who where the whole story is basically "Get The Fuck Back To The Tardis!!!"

First time poster to the Docbacks. With all of the mentions of the "Doctor's Wife" got me thinking of how much I would love to see the Corsair as a character. Maybe with a bit of the Who timey wimeyness they could bring him back with Brian Blessed playing the role. Anyway I am a huge Who fan and I hope to add more to the Docbacks in the future.

Redheads are like kryptonite to me, but for some reason when I first saw the publicity shots of Karen Gillan before Series 5 aired, I didn't really have a reaction to her one way or the other. But once I saw the way she moves and her mannerisms and heard her voice, that quickly changed.

...none of us would REALLY like to see any of these people actually dead....well, I hope not... so take it with a pinch of salt that it emphasises the very strong dislike we feel for each character.
However, very strong dislike sounds rather shitty compared to die a horrid death.
That's all it means....so you know who I'm talking about- stop taking things too literally and join in the fucking fun.

..AHA!!! YES!!! SJS does not appear in any of my lists!!
Why I hear you cry? Was she not at all an attractive lady?
Yes, she was, and if she had stayed as a young(er) companion and not returned as a very classy, beautiful lady who I learned to respect deeply..then she would have been on "list shaggable..."
But do you not repect the other companions, Mr Wig???
Yup, but not in the same way.
As for Ace...... I had no feelings for her in any way, but as I have previously stated I didn't stick around long enough with her for her *gasp* BIG REVEAL!! (which I still haven't fucking seen yet!!!)

********don't, for Gods sake, let a certain Docbacker hear you speculate on the return of the 8th Doctor, or the Rani, or the fact that Amy's house is a TARDIS... You'll start him off, and we'll have to go through all that again. WE all know that Doc8 will be back, but we pretend for this Docbackers sake, that we think otherwise...******
You don't mean......... oh you couldn't..... ;)

We are lucky to have it. Most of that episode is lost (not story, just the episode). And the story afterward is lost (but we have the audio). The first regeneration is interesting and good for the time -- very good. The first post regeneration story is my favorite Doctor Who story of all time (The Power of the Daleks) and I think it does the best of any with the question of regeneration. The Doctor's companions were not sure if it were the Doctor until the Daleks recognized him!

Did anyone else stumble on the hilarious drwhogirlsknickers website?
It was a neat piece of viral marketing/piss take that went a bit 'wrong'.
A made up site, charting the extensive collecting of the Doctor's companions (and other actresses from Who's) underwear by a sad Who fan...
The makers have now changed the site to say sorry about a million times and excuse themselves (no need really) - but the original site in all it's glory can be found in the LINKS section.
Wonderful stuff but ultimately short lived.

I tend to agree. For me even more so since the first time I ever saw her was in School reunion. To me she is the older version, and watching the classic show is like flipping through an old photo album and seeing what your parents looked like in college.
She is undoubtedly beautiful, and loveable. But I just don't get the sexy vibe off of her.

I have a ravenous redhead fetish, so Amy Pond is obviously quite appealing to me. The only way she could be hotter to me is if she had an Irish accent instead of a scottish one
Don't get me wrong, I'm part scottish and love scottish girls to
But Irish girsl make me melt like no other girl can. I could listen to them read the phone book

Well, let's put some pieces together. Episode 12 and 13 have no titles but we know 12 returns to the setting of the Lodger and has Cybermats, and 13 has 2 kinds of Cybermen plus an alternate universe featuring Silents, Dorium as something like Number Two as well as Emperor Churchill's personal mammoth.
This is a multiverse spinning out of control with at least 2, likely 3 doctors wandering around with red ties, blue ties, stetsons and, apparently, a shoulder appliance. Meanwhile silence has not fallen, the doctor has not fallen further than ever before, and we still don't know who blew up the Tardis, when or why.
Plus there's the inexplicable decisions about how many episodes have been commissioned for what date. This after last year's season which ran absolutely like clockwork.
In other words, you better sense a disturbance in the force.
There's really only one man we could possibly trust to sort this out. The only man with the temperament, the experience, and the commitment to heal the broken arcs. He is the object of all our obsessions, the eye of the oncoming storm.
I refer to Paul McGann.
Who commissioned WETA to produce a new sonic screwdriver for McGann? We're told they were just fans who were excited to have him turn up in NZ. Well ... what was McGann doing in NZ anyway? Apart from WETA, why would he bother with all that?
Other clues: the McGann movie was re-released in a "special edition" in the USA at the end of last year. Then when Big Finish's Doctor 8 audios finished they were explicitly forbidden from using any NuWho elements in further work ...
But here's the capper: we read at http://www.gallifreyone.com/ that McGann is headlining a Doctor Who convention along with the actor better known as Canton Delaware the 3rd.
And that's right in the middle of the big empty silence between the end of season 6 and the Moffat-says-don't-worry season 7.
I smell a TIme War movie to be announced at the end of season 6 and released mid to late 2012. Starring Smith, Tennant and McGann. With, oh I don't know, Carey Mulligan as the companion.

Sorry.
Big Finish has always been forbidden New Who elements. This is not new, or strange.
Paul went to a Doctor Who convention. Why is that odd?
Paul seems to have wanted to make up a new costume for himself. No one else did it, however. The BBC didn't. BF didn't

...my gut tells me yes we will, but you can bet your bottom dollar that it will not feature Paul McGann. Reason?
Tentpole movie. Zero star power to sell it with McGann. Sorry, but that's the way the movie industry grinds on, nevermind TV.
Look at it this way, if Guillermo Del Toro and James Cameron cannot get At The Mountains of Madness off the ground with that power behind it, then Who with Mcgann will be the toughest sell there is.
It might work with Tennant; after all he has gone and got himself a movie career of sorts, and is by far the biggest name of NuWho, and arguably of Who itself (he is, don't deny it! The guy fucking packed in the viewers!!) but I would surmise that they would keep that for 2013. Having older Doctors pop in however, would be a moot point as they just don't have the recognition he does, especially with a foreign audience.
Plus there's budget. The Beeb would have to seek assistance from elsewhere to levy the kind of cash needed to deliver a fucking awesome movie. Look how much they are spunking on the TV series (all told, a huge chunk of coin). For a Time War movie, what? £80-£90m? Is Tennant THAT big a name to carry that sort of wonga?
Nope. Sorry.
If we DO get a movie then it will be headlined by a big name and will not fit into any of the TV mythos.
Just my 2c.

If I were to make a Doctor Who movie, I would do the Power of the Daleks. I would do it as a continuation of the Cushing films. I would have Christopher Lee as the Doctor.
However, now that Christopher Lee has said many times he will never do Doctor Who, my nex big choice would be... Hugh Laurie. For companions of Ben and Polly -- Emily Blunt and James Franco? I am not sure.
Alan Rickman as Lesterson.

.... don't mean anything apart from red and blue.
Series 5 (and I can't remember which episode at the moment, sorry) Amy is saying to the Doc "Oh you have a bow tie..." or something along those lines.
He then replies that yes, he also has a blue one as bow ties are cool (he was wearing the red).
Sorry I can't be more specific ATM. I will dig the actual info out of my brain that is currently involved in an all out war with what to cook for Sunday lunch....

Emily Blunt is lurrvellyy. Franco proved with 127 hours he has the acting chops to carry it off, and the comedic side in Your Highness (shit movie saved by Natalie Portmans arse) to play a goofy companion the movie indusry seems to love.
Laurie- big in England and fucking MASSIVE in the States thatnks to House and his new Blues career. He would work perfectly.
And I would have Alan Rickman in any piece of work. He is just magical and is a cinematic chameleon.
Good choices.

50th anniversary multi-Doctor story. I think he is the one most eligible. We never know what he is like near the end of his life, so he could have lived to "old age" for all we know. He is therefore very easy to bring in.
However, I don't think we will see much of him.

I think they work, so, even if not a Power of the Daleks film, I think they would work for a Doctor Who film. I still say any film should continue the Cushing series (without any need to reference them as much as to be seen, by the makers, as such).

Gee, thanks for bringing us all back to reality and hammering home the fact, too. I'll go you one better, I don't think we will ever see a big-screen version of Doctor Who, the hollywood bigwigs will not see it as a money maker, several failed Who projects prove that. The best we can hope for is, if we get the next 14 episodes split in half (I hope that doesn't happen, God, please don't let that happen!!!), the last 7 could be a 7 part Time War Special with any past Doctor who wants to come back, can come back, in it. It would make a great 50th anniversary special. Ok, now, please tell me why this won't happen, Sam. (I would rather you tell me why the 14 episode split won't happen.)

Granted, it would be a geek-gasm of sorts depending on who (pun intended) they decided to bring back.
Tennant would get a loud pop and a guaranteed ratings draw, and I feel that he is the more likely to sign himself up. (Let's face it, his movie career isn't going to amount to very much is it? Brutal but honest. He is much better off on the stage...his Hamlet was utterly superb!)
And just another "Let's throw as many Docs as we can find at the screen and hope it pays off" adventure has been done before. To limited success.
For me, what would really blow me away would be a story where the Doc is subjected to a metaphysical event that forces him into previous incarnations; time reversing in a way that if it is not halted he will cease to exist as he relives past regenerations. Each struggling to solve the puzzle as they forget about their future selves slowly, wondering why the exist again.
And having Omega controlling it all as he uses the Docs regeneration power to bring himself back from his alternate Universe prison into the here and now... to rule.
Oh that would be fucking awesome stuff!!! And would solve the cliche of having more than one Doc on screen at once. So they could all have a chance to shine individually.

For me, what would really blow me away would be a story where the Doc is subjected to a metaphysical event that forces him into previous incarnations; time reversing in a way that if it is not halted he will cease to exist as he relives past regenerations. Each struggling to solve the puzzle as they forget about their future selves slowly, wondering why the exist again.

Sam = "For me, what would really blow me away would be a story where the Doc is subjected to a metaphysical event that forces him into previous incarnations; time reversing in a way that if it is not halted he will cease to exist as he relives past regenerations. Each struggling to solve the puzzle as they forget about their future selves slowly, wondering why the exist again." = The best thing I've ever heard.

...we can all dream the impossible dream.
As Dr Who goes forwards, the chances of revisiting any previous mythos seems not only improbable but impossible.
Who is trying its very best to cater to 2 audiences- the hardcore longtime fans and also a new audience, more demanding with limited attention spans (yup- look at the guff created by a lack of standalone episodes this season...some people can't handle a multi-layered storyline. Not insulting, just true.) who have no idea about previous Who other than the few monsters or villans that are resurrected periodically and have o have their back story explained ad nauseum.
Look at the Macra. How many Nu Who fans could have told you that the Macra had appeared before in Troughtons The Macra Terror? (How many could tell you that Macra is a place in North West Italy, nevermind that???) All they know is "large CGI scorpion thing attacking David Tennant."
In short, the Time War, outside of a couple of mentions here and there is not something that Nu Who fans really give a shit about, and as this is the largest audience base the Beeb are trying to atrract, what possible reason is there to resurrect it?
The show is looking to advance, not retract.
And don't worry, mate! I didn't take anything the wrong way! You aren't some others I can mention who go out of their way to try and belittle others before being scalped and brought back down to Earth in a messy heap!!!!

...I pray for this kind of story. Handled correctly, the power of it would be a thing of pure beauty.
Imagine as we get further and further into the past, say, Doc 5, the confusion mounts and overtakes the need to solve the puzzle..
And each previous Doc bringing something (old) new to the table as they individually shine, not compete for screen time.
Again, thanks! This is a personal Who fantasy of mine, and has been for a while now.

And similar to what you say, Sam, but also similar to what others have said, I think "Trials and Tribulations" shows a way to do it.
It would be the 11th Doctor (?) going back in time to follow the Valeyard who is trying to interfere with his previous lives. We can see some stories redone so that the Doctor himself changes into an old form of the previous Doctor, until he fixes time and reestablishes himself.

Is if they keep leading up to this whole 'death of the doctor' we saw in 'the impossible astronaut' and just actually did kill off the doctor. No clones, no illusions, no last minute timey-wimey, no faked his own death, etc
he just actually dies
and then the 50th anniversary could actually be the doctor in some sort of time lord afterlife/purgatory altered state where he is able to interact with all of his past versions, and working together they find a way to escape from death, and it ends with the doctor returning to the land of the living (possibly as the 12th doctor)
Just a crazy thought. Plus you have to admit:
ESCAPE FROM DEATH
sounds like a Who title

Plus would be a way to "reboot" the series without really rebooting it, would still be a continuation, but could give it a nice fresh start like they did with eccelston, and also when smith started
also they could shoehorn in an explanation for regenerations beyond the 13th doctor to ensure the longevity of the series.

... or Jon Pertwee if you prefer, was the subject of an hour long Audience with type thingy on Radio 4 Extra this morning at 1am, or was it 2am?
Things I didn't know about the great man and revealed therein included the fact Pertwee was transferred off HMS Hood to other duties in the nick of time, and that he was first choice for Captain Mainwaring.
Quite a good listen, if you like that sort of thing.
Anyway, on the iPlayer if you wish to hear it, sons and daughters of Empire, and not if you... amn't.

and the companions too....
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Dimensions in Time
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We don't need a shitstorm like that again. I'll grant you that the idea is interesting, but we've seen how much of a clusterf*** it can turn into in the wrong hands.
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Fortunately, I don't think Moffat could ever go as far wrong as that.

After all, you're talking about the Doctor who destroyed Gallifrey. At least twice.
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(The Eccleston comments at the beginning of Rose indicate it's very early in his regeneration, with the implication that it was the McGann Doctor who ended the Time War. McGann's Doctor was also the one who destroyed Gallifrey in the novel The Ancestor Cell.
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Hornorsilk provided the factual elements shooting down the "evidence" of McGann coming back. I wanted to point out that he might not be the one you want for this situation.
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They aren't going to do a Time War movie, and I don't see them doing a Time War miniseries. It would cost too much, and couldn't possibly hope to live up to what people expect. If anything pops up involving the Time War, it will be things like RTD did in The End of Time - things going on at the fringes of the War, not the War in all its epic glory itself. They're not about to commit to showing a large war between fleets of Daleks and Time Lords, with the Nightmare Child, and all the others that were mentioned. You might get leakage from the Time War, with the Doctor trying to put the "genie" back into the bottle again, or possibly an isolated group of Time Lords rescued, but nothing more than that.

I want Susan back, but with Jemima Rooper in the role, but I'd settle for her playing The Master's daughter if someone were to create such a character.
I want Eva Green as The Rani whenever a writer decides to bring the character back as a credible villain.
And I don't care what anyone says, I want Eric Roberts back as The Master. RTD's writing of The Master with John Simm in the role was truly atrocious and I want Roberts back so he can scare the kiddies but with no panto writing this time 'round.
And yes, the 8th Doctor needs to make an appearance. He is the bridge between ClassicWho and NewWho and it has been a crime that he didn't even get one series out of the whole sha'bang. David Tennant who?

There's ways she can be brought back, but the last we saw her was on Earth after the Dalek Invasion (ignoring the Big Finish audios), unless she regenerated into Mel or the Rani or something equally ridiculous. Given how the Time War ended, he would definitely have looked for her afterwards and wouldn't be going around saying he's the last of the Time Lords if she actually had still been around.
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Then again, maybe Susan dumped that mayfly human and became Omega's wife.

If he's not in the afterlife, he finds his consciousness down the black hole with Omega, who pulled it there (see, there's a way to work Omega into it). Now the Doctor has to figure out how to get the both of them bodies again.

Invasion of the Stigs.
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Or, Jeremy Clarkson had been replaced by a Zygon trying to get global warming to happen faster so that England gets flooded and herds of Skarasen will be free to roam the oceans.

The Doctor is not only confined to Earth for a season, but he's confined to Wales. It should make shooting cheaper. Then, they can have one story called The Terror of Upper Boat. They also save money by recycling wardrobe and props from Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes by setting two episodes in 1973 and 1981.

how about have the action take place at some holiday camp place - make it sound exotic though, y'know? like something out of a James Hilton book - and make up some shit about looking for a macguffin... possibly a child of something. Then, all you gotta do is throw in a couple of yanky characters to make it appeal to anyone outside Cardiff (like they did with TIA) and voila!! I guarantee you, if they made that story, the show would run for at least another year or two....

On the plus side, you move the time so that it's in the early 70's, and get Mark Shepard back as Canton Everett Delaware III for the story instead of a couple of muppets. And the child is Melody Song.
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Holy rewrite, Batman, we might just be able to make the story finally work!

You know, a bunch of mysterious people in spaceships are searching for a child with special powers, set a few decades ago, with a few Americans running around. And also: James Corden/Ken Dodd...?? Sorry Moffat... you've been rumbled.

Something similar was done in a Tom Baker era comic. I don't remember the title off the top of my head, but some anomaly caused K-9 to turn into a pile of screws and bolts while the Doctor regressed backwards through his previous incarnations. Hartnell sussed out the problem and fixed it. He quickly went through all of his incarnations again until he was Tom once more. It was a short one, maybe six pages. It would be a cool way to play it though. As much as I'd love to see eleven Doctors giving each other noogies and sassing one another, I can't think of a coherent scenario that would make such a thing plausible. I also love the earlier "Trials and Tribbleations" idea. Matt's Doctor seems to have no problem running back and forth in his own timeline, even meeting up with himself to dispense advice, so I can see him just hopping back into old stories.

*spoilers!* (just in case the *spoilers* notice got cut off)
In that promo AICN posted here, we see a skeletal hand holding the Eleventh Doctor's sonic screwdriver. AND YET at the very beginning of this season/series we watched a certain someone get a Viking funeral. Plus another certain someone spoke aloud how worlds and civilizations would go to war over any little scrap of Time Lord they could get their hands on. So who's the skeleton (the very white, unblackened non-sooty, skeleton) holding the sonic screwdriver? And if it's you-know-who, wouldn't he and it have both been turned to ashes and melted TimeLordium (or whatever sonic screwdrivers are made of)?

And, as we know, RTD is too busy right now with getting a tan, er, Torchwood, to be writing novels on the side.
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Technically it would go to the Doctor Who office, which would mean that Moffat would make the decisions on it, but I wouldn't be surprised if he deferred to Davies in this case.
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Now, what they could do would be something along the lines of what JMS did for his Babylon 5 books; choose the author(s) you want, write up some story treatments and let the authors flesh it out.
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Then again, maybe Moffat's trying to coax RTD into writing another Doctor Who episode for the anniversary season that will involve the Time War in some aspect.

fans then I am..I love the new series but never watched any of the series before these new ones started. I am getting caught up with all the Torchwood's in anticipation of the new Starz series. Eve myles, yummy.

I certainly agree McGann can't carry it by himself - including Tennant & Smith is essential for the draw.
It would cost a bomb. But there are multiple generations of Whovians out there, not just the current audience, who would go. Who is just as popular as Star Trek (Google them - Star Trek gets 140,000,000 hits, Doctor Who gets 134,000,000). 50 years of advance publicity - any Hollywood studio could see the logic in that.
As for having Tom Cruise or whoever play the doc, that would go over about as well as having Tom Cruise play Frodo or Harry Potter. Leaving behind the current continuity is too big a risk.
Now I will admit the likelihood of a secret Who movie is lower than a cybermat's belly. But still there is a disturbance in the force ...

which I agree could make a ton of money, provided they don't go overboard on the budget and just focus mainly on the british market in terms of plublicity.
(In other words don't waste $100 million on advertising in north america or other countries where there is less of a Who foothold, the existing fans will find it, and there are enough of them to make the movie a huge hit)
But if there is a movie, and they want to market to non-fans, the most likely thing they would do is time the movie to come out just after the current doctor has regenerated, and then cast some big name Brit actor as the doctor to appear just in the movie, like Colin Firth or Ralph Fiennes, or daniel craig (I'm not saying any of these are good choices, just that it would be someone with some box office clout) and then I would expect them to follow basically the series 1 story arc. New doctor, new companion, emotional bond, then end with the regeneration into a lesser known more affordable actor, who will appear in the next series of the show, but will now also be established with movie audiences for future sequels if need be
Like going from Eccelston (easily the most "famous" actor to get cast as the doctor) to Tennant.

When Craig started as Bond almost no one knew who he was. Certainly far fewer knew him than know Tennant or Smith. Bond fans were up in arms and Craig was forced to beg them to give him a chance. So ...
You plonk one of the NW doctors - and I'll include Eccleston in this on the grounds that he will also have his price - in a Hollywood-budget summer movie and the audience will know all about them before release date.
The real question is how you do that without killing the series. Look at the damage TNG X did to the TV franchise. Killed it deader than Matt Smith in a Stetson. Much deader ...
Doing the McGann movie franchise is the ticket because of this. What's more it sells a heck of a lot more Eccleston and Tennant DVDs because the new audience all want to know what happened next. It's win-win-win. You plonk a Smith cameo in it because that guarantees the very latest audience will turn up too. Win-win-win-win.
And then you morph in Tom Baker and Liz Sladen and it's win-win-win-win-win-win-win ...

Bond fans were up in arms about Craig because he was blond, and Bond has dark hair. (See, it's not just Doctor Who fans who can fixate on small details!) It wasn't because he was relatively unknown as an actor, and really, anybody who had seen Layer Cake shouldn't have had any problems accepting his announcement.
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The Star Trek: Nemesis movie didn't kill the TV franchise at all; the people doing the TV franchise killed the TV franchise. The movie came out in 2002, while Star Trek Enterprise was broadcast into mid-2005. The only way that the movie could be said to have killed the TV franchise is that you had the same producers showrunning the TV series, so they were spreading the dry rot into both the movies and the different series. It wasn't until the last season of Enterprise where they said "screw it, they've brought us back for one more season but moved us to the Friday death slot, we know we're not going to get renewed anyway given how ratings have been, let's actually give the fans what they want", got Manny Coto to showrun (he had helped with writing the 3rd season, where some signs of life were shown). And the show got better just as it was cancelled. Draw any parallels between the last season of Enterprise and the last 2 seasons of classic Doctor Who that you want.
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Also, I don't think Eccleston has his price, at least one that could be afforded. His "I don't swim in the same pool twice" comment seems to cast doubt on ever getting him back for the show (the only exception I could really see for that is just doing a brief appearance for Children in Need, since actors tend to view doing something for charity differently than they might for regular acting roles).

It won't be a big budget Hollywood movie if it happens. People need to scale back expectations. It would be a British movie, possibly with coproduction money from other spots, and won't be the type of movie going out to try to get Hollywood A list names. You'll probably get names that are highly recognizable in England but would have most mainstream Americans going "who's that?" even if they've seen them. Most people here in the States have no idea of who Bill Nighy is even though he's been in Pirates of the Caribbean, or who Nick Frost is. Simon Pegg would only get recognized because of his stint as Scotty and possibly from Mission Impossible (I don't think he's gotten much recognition here for the rom-coms he's done).
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That said, Matthew Vaughn or Edgar Wright doing a Doctor Who movie, with the current stars. Your biggest name draw currently in Doctor Who would be Alex Kingston because of her work in ER. Having a movie with Matt Smith and Alex Kingston actually wouldn't be that bad.
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I'd avoid doing the Time War for a movie since you don't want to make the mistake of the Paul McGann movie of trying to overwhelm people with backstory. Serenity suffered some of this also. All you really need to know is that he's a "madman in a box" that goes through time and space...and that he picks up strays to share the experience with.

I would love to see a return to The Master of old - the machiavellian evil force that would pop up someone amongst any scheme, having done a deal with anyone to get what he wanted. There were shades of that in John Simm, and they didn't completely destroy the character, but I just put it down to being a dodgy, camp regeneration of a far more nasty timelord. Derek Jacobi WAS unquestionably brilliant though. Of course the Master isn't dead - he's supposedly tied up with the Time War now, having been 'sent back into hell' with Rassilon, and so I really think that introducing a new Master would be a good way to breath new life into the series again. Not that I'm not enjoying the current stories, but just that I think the whole Amy/Rory/Baby thing is going to get old very quickly. Which leads me to the point of this post: Casting the Master. Would love to know your opinions on either of my choices: Jeremy Irons (he's British, and hasn't appeared in Harry Potter) or Robert Powell??

Some other choices for the Master, though, if you wanted to recast:
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Mark Gatiss - he's done it before on audio
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Nick Frost - with beard - an offbeat choice, but could prove interesting
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Mark Sheppard - not having the Master take over Canton III, but just using the same actor.
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Tom Baker - he's said before he'd like to come back as a monster, and I'm sure he'd come back if you offered the part of the Master to him. Plus, it would definitely generate publicity.

I would love to see a return to The Master of old - the machiavellian evil force that would pop up someone amongst any scheme, having done a deal with anyone to get what he wanted. There were shades of that in John Simm, and they didn't completely destroy the character, but I just put it down to being a dodgy, camp regeneration of a far more nasty timelord. Derek Jacobi WAS unquestionably brilliant though. Of course the Master isn't dead - he's supposedly tied up with the Time War now, having been 'sent back into hell' with Rassilon, and so I really think that introducing a new Master would be a good way to breath new life into the series again. Not that I'm not enjoying the current stories, but just that I think the whole Amy/Rory/Baby thing is going to get old very quickly. Which leads me to the point of this post: Casting the Master. Would love to know your opinions on either of my choices: Jeremy Irons (he's British, and hasn't appeared in Harry Potter) or Robert Powell??

...Tom Baker coming back as a monster - especially as he's virtually unrecognisable now anyway... but the voice would still be a problem. That is the voice of the 4th Doctor, no getting away from it! I have to say Jonathan Pryce wasn't bad either.... as long he refrains from communicating using gas emissions. And how's this for an idea... Neil McDermott from Eastenders. He'd have to do his best Delgado impression, but I can see it working.

at the fact that she no longer has a job (*not a spoiler, just a guess*). I wouldn't read too much into this - she always seemed to be fairly nuts and wild. I just wish she'd do that in the hotels that I stay in.

I don't see her on the guest list, but they do list Neil Gaiman on for tomorrow night (Tuesday), so maybe she'll be popping in then.
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Or, there might at least be a mention of her tonight or tomorrow in the monologue.

"I went to the peephole and looked out. I saw a man at the lift who was looking back at someone (Karen) who was attempting to open my door," he said. "The next thing I saw was a woman giving this person at my door two towels before getting into the lift and leaving.

I'd never heard of it so looked on RT. It took $2.3M at the US box office. That's almost unknown. Certainly less well known than Smith & Tennant.
As for Nemesis, it killed the franchise because it broke the even-numbered-star-trek-movies-are-good rule. That weakened the TNG market to the point that the show-runners had to set Enterprise outside normal ST continuity.
In other words Enterprise was an attempt at a reboot. It failed horribly not because of the scripts, which weren't all bad, but because of the disconnect from the fan base. Perhaps the only worse move than that in the history of a franchise was the Star Wars Holiday Special.
Which is why Enterprise's dying flail was to become a holodeck simulation on TNG. That was its only way back to canon, and thereby dvd-box-set-dom.
As for Eccleston, I expect he puts on his pants one leg at a time. But agreed the movie would have to work as standalone as possible. STFC is a great example of how a movie can work for both purposes.

I'd never heard of it so looked on RT. It took $2.3M at the US box office. That's almost unknown. Certainly less well known than Smith & Tennant.
As for Nemesis, it killed the franchise because it broke the even-numbered-star-trek-movies-are-good rule. That weakened the TNG market to the point that the show-runners had to set Enterprise outside normal ST continuity.
In other words Enterprise was an attempt at a reboot. It failed horribly not because of the scripts, which weren't all bad, but because of the disconnect from the fan base. Perhaps the only worse move than that in the history of a franchise was the Star Wars Holiday Special.
Which is why Enterprise's dying flail was to become a holodeck simulation on TNG. That was its only way back to canon, and thereby dvd-box-set-dom.
As for Eccleston, I expect he puts on his pants one leg at a time. But agreed the movie would have to work as standalone as possible. STFC is a great example of how a movie can work for both purposes.

The cracks were just cracks in space and time.
They connected two points in space and time to each other. Two points which should never have touched.
This is stated clearly in the episode.
It connected Amys bedroom to Prisoner Zeros prison.
It connected Venice to the home of the fish people. When they saw the cracks they saw Earth on the other side of one of the cracks, and fled through it.
In some of the cracks, there was a strange energy on the other side. (Connected to the Pandoricas explosion or something.) That's the energy that wiped people out from non-time-travellers memories. It isn't always in the crack. The Doctor is able to stick his hand into the crack, and there's clearly no weird energy coming through at the same time. And other people/species were able to pass through the cracks unharmed. So I think it depends on what two points in time a crack is connecting. If a crack is connecting to the Pandorica explosion, then it's possible some weird deleting energy can seep through and remove items from the other side.

*snicker* but really you mentioned the doctor putting his hand in the crack and nothing happened, but this was the SAME crack that Rory went through and was erased.. the doctor is obviously immune to such a thing

I don't think that's the point.
If, as you say, some cracks lead to the Pandorica explosion, and seep that time energy, when why acn the Doctor put his hand in? We can all see there is no time energy at that moment... but why then does it appear later?

that based on the info in the show, I wasn't in the least bit confused about the situation.
You might as well ask why the Atraxi didn't come through the crack to find Prisoner Zero. Or why the fish people came through the crack to escape whatever it was... and the thing they were escaping from couldn't follow them to Earth.
You could make the reasonable assumption that the cracks aren't connected to fixed points in time and space. There's nothing explicit in the show saying this, but I think it's a plausible explanation.
I do know that "this was the SAME crack that Rory went through" is an incorrect statement.

V'shael's right, and it's not just a matter of semantics. that wasn't just light coming out of the crack for Rory, it was tendrils seeking him out. You didn't have the light tendrils when the Doctor stuck his hand in.
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Of course, there's still a question of WHY the tendrils were seeking out Rory. I suspect that we haven't heard the last of that.

It looked like there was an intelligence guiding the light tendrils that were reaching out. They came out of the same crack the Doctor stuck his hand in, but they might not have been looking for the Doctor at the time (you didn't see any tendrils trying to snap at him when he pulled his hand out. Now, it might be that the Doctor's actions caused the light tendrils to come out belatedly looking for whatever disturbed it, and while "groping" around blindly found Rory (though the tendrils seemed to be moving deliberately in that direction rather than toward the TARDIS), but in this case it wasn't the mere presence of the crack itself that caused the people to be eaten.
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In the weeping Angel 2 parter you had people on the radio describing the crack and the light before they were wiped out. It would not be an unreasonable assumption that tendrils came out of the cracks to grab them and erase them. We know it's not just the light itself erasing the people, since the light from the crack was shining through the entire forest (based on the lighting in the episode at the time). The Weeping Angels at the end fell into whatever the source of the tendrils are, this action causing the crack to close.

We could find out that whatever/whoever's behind the cracks wanted Rory for some reason and pulled him outside time. We could find out that this being was responsible for Rory's "soul" being put into the Roman Auton, and that it wasn't just a matter of Amy "wishing" him back or just the act of recording the memories at Amy's house bringing Rory back.

what happened to Rory in the meantime? Is he an unknowing sleeper agent for the bad guys? Now that we know about the Silence, we can't rule out that Rory was given some posthypnotic suggestions, then projected into an Auton (whether by being killed, or just projected in a manner similar to that of a Flesh Avatar, with the Nestene Consciousness broadcasting a conflicting signal at the end of The Pandorica Opens)

Great to see you guys talking DOCTOR WHO. I was a massive Tom Baker fan when our local PBS station ran his episodes in the early 1980s (I was 13-14). Now 44, with a 9-year-old of my own, it's even more joyous to rediscover the show in its entirety. We're huge fans of the modern series, but we've also spent the past 4-5 months exploring the whole WHO history (and I've spent $1,000 to purchase most of the available classic episodes). Lots of missteps, and always the eye-rolling FX issues... but overall, DOCTOR WHO is the best long-form science fiction series ever. Its stories are often rich beyond belief, its themes relevant whether the episode is a year old or nearly 50 years old. And who knew I would end up falling completely in love with Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor! Still hold Baker near and dear... but every regeneration brings new thrills and delights. (Except Sylvester McCoy. I've yet to see a truly good episode of his!) Enjoy the ride, Merrick!

Not to say that I wouldn't mind if it's him, but I don't think so (at least if they're revealing this year the person "behind the curtain".
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At this point, it could have been the Doctor that sealed himself outside time and space to close the cracks that caused them in the first place.
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It could be the dead Doctor reaching out from the afterlife somehow.
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More likely, it's the Cybermen, the Silents or Madame Kovarian and her ilk. Remember, the Cybermen after Doomsday were stuck in the voidspace between universes - or, put another way, outside space and time. This could all have been done to get them back into the universe (assuming all the stuff the Daleks were doing during season 4 didn't crack open the universe enough to let the Cybermen through.

The VALEYARD!
On the subject of Rory.. I was under the assumption that he really did die/become an auton and wait alongside the Pandorica... but after the Doctor rebooted the Universe, Rory was returned as a normal Human, much like Amy's parents...

It had obviously opened at some point, and the same energy tendrils had come through and grabbed people from her family. Not necessarily all at the same time or anything. And she sort of forgot about them. But bits and pieces remained. Her aunt never asked Amelia who she was, or where she came from. And Amelia remembered that her mum used to draw faces on apples. They just forgot that the parents had been around and disappeared without explanation.

The ultimate good guy, slowly turning bad over hundreds of years, until it gets to the point where he's just evil? It's a classic archetype of story.
Did you ever see L.A. Confidential? Guy Pearce plays this incredibly straight idealistic cop, and he takes down the corrupt chief of police played by James Cromwell.
Well, in the sequel novel, this idealistic character (over the course of several years) becomes just as corrupt as the Cromwell character was in the first book. Only because the reader has followed his progression, they find it easier to sympathise with his evil deeds.
It's been done in plenty of ways. Anakin to Darth Vader is just a really shitty example. When it's done well, it's a fascinating tale. When it involves time travel, it opens several new possible plot twists to explore.

The Dream Lord could be seen as a version of the Valeyard that just hasn't "fully cooked" yet, it just needs another few regenerations worth of bitterness to bottle up.
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They're pushing more this direction with Matt Smith also, especially this season with The Doctor's Wife (the comments from Amy about "you know how he gets when he's emotional" )and A Good Man Goes To War - having "Doctor" being equated with "great warrior" in the Gamma Forests, compared his attitude in older regenerations (pre-Colin Baker) is hinting at a descent toward the Valeyard's attitudes if he doesn't straighten himself out. And, it might turn out that River Song is just the person to straighten himself out. The part with the reveal of River's identity was good just from the point of how giddy it made the Doctor.

can have a proper marathon of everything thats aired since the Doctors wife. Catch up with you guys in a couple of months!... assuming anyone here actually remembers me... i hope it's been thoroughly awesome